Giving thanks

Today is a wonderful day. We have been cooking all day to prepare for our supper tonight. We're having turkey, duck, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, homemade yeast rolls and pecan pie for dessert. We will be very miserable later, I'm sure. It will be a good miserable.

I give a lot of thanks today. I'm thankful for a family. One that loves me and is great to be around. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for my house. I'm thankful for food to be able to prepare and place on my table in the company of others. I'm also very thankful for the health of my family and myself.

I got sad news today that my dad's house was broken into yesterday. A lot of things are missing and there was a lot of mess to clean up from what these people did. I am very thankful that both him and my stepmom are okay and that they weren't home when these people decided to target their house.

I am sad that this had to happen to my family, especially on the holidays.

As we walk through this life, we are not deserving of anything, for we are not perfect and we have faults. And yet somehow we are blessed with wonderful families, children, spouses, partners, friends, co-workers and so many others that come into our lives. We have so much to be thankful for, even through bad times or when things don't go just as we had planned. Life is a wonderful thing, and I am so thankful.

I'm intolerable at times

I've done really good with writing posts since I created this new blog. I'm not even sure what number I am on when it comes to counting how many blogs I have tried to have. I think this one has been easier since I haven't yet shared it with the world. I haven't announced it. I've just been writing. To no one.

I've been writing in the mornings, too. Which means my mind is fresh and the stresses of the day haven't caught up with me yet. I really like that. That stress-free feeling.

Today I will be buying the dry goods for Thanksgiving supper. Just so I'm not completely last minute with everything. We will be having a lot of food and enjoying the company of family. Our tradition is to roast a duck. With orange glaze. It always turns out so well. We roast one for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas. Along with the usual dishes, too. There will still be a turkey. We can't have Thanksgiving without one.

I love enjoying leftover turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving.

On a slightly different note, I'm sad to say that I think my body has been having a hard time dealing with dairy lately. I have had some symptoms of lactose intolerance.

I've had coffee with creamer and cereal with milk every day this past week for breakfast. Each time I've enjoyed those things I've had stomach issues. Not gross stomach issues, just not normal issues. Like bloating, gurgling, and other simple issues. But ones that I've found annoying and very uncomfortable. Especially at work.

I'm not sure if that is the case, but there is only one way to find out. And I'm scared to eliminate something that big from my diet. But, I know it could be done.

I'm so excited for the impending holidays. Making new memories and traditions. I love my family and spending time with them. It's always so extra special. So much happiness.

Of pumpkins, turkey & cookies

I love the holidays. I love how my favorite three holidays are all smooshed together, too. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. All so much fun. I have always loved them. As far back as I can remember.

We celebrate Halloween. To a certain extent. We're not all about what it's all about, but we dress up, the kids dress up, we decorate with pumpkins, we carve pumpkins, and we even made cookies this year.

Who said cookie decorating is just a Christmas thing?

Next on the list is Thanksgiving. And I'm really excited for Thanksgiving this year. We're cooking our very own meal. In our very own house. Having people over and everything like that. What could be better? Well, sure, having someone else cook. But I love to cook, so it's no big deal to me.

Then in the blink of an eye, Christmas will be here.

Sparkly. Shiny. Christmas.

I love it so much. Watching the kids open their gifts. And just being together. As a family. That's what holidays are all about. Being with your family and the ones you love.

And I love that my family loves being together. I wish holidays like these lasted all year.